Fan Council '39 Offical Rules Thread

[Daemonknight]

Communications Rules

HPG Service & Revenue:
Hyperpulse Generators(HPGs) are the lifeblood of commerce, government, and communications. Planets without an HPG are devoid of external contact, except for JumpShips that bring news from other planets,(though this news arrives days or even weeks late). This makes military, commercial, intellectual and administrative actives difficult or impossible.

Worlds without a functional HPG suffer several penalties:

I. They cannot produce military equipment partially built off world(ie cannot place more FP on planet than it has production capacity)
II. PFs cannot contribute SP to the same project as another PF
III. The planet cannot be part of any trade deal until communication is restored
IV. No new Hex Elements may be built until communication is restored.

To have a connection with other nations, there must be an IC on both sides of the border within range of each other. Only ICs are able to communicate with HPGs across national borders, making ICs extremely important for international diplomacy. Taking an IC offline when it is the only connection to another nation means that all trade deals are suspended unless there is an alternate route*, and the two factions treat each other as if they were interdicted for the purposes of Intelligence missions.

*Nations can conduct diplomacy with nations they do not neighbor, IF they have a connection through the Terra hex, or through another nation. However, messages would be cost prohibitive if they were to pass through more than a single network before reaching their destination, let alone the time required for such a lengthy series of relays. For example, the Lyran Commonwealth cannot contact the Free Rasalhauge Republic without a direct IC network along the LC-FRR border or a network connection along the LC-DC border(LC -> DC -> FRR). It would take far to long for a message to travel the long way around(LC -> Terra -> DC -> FRR)

Member Worlds do not have HPGs, nor will ComStar build them on such worlds.
Control Worlds have Class B HPGs, and generate 0.10 RP/turn for their service provider
Regional Capital Worlds have a more powerful Class A HPG, and generate 0.25 RP/turn
National Capital Worlds also have Class A HPGs, but due to the proximity to the administrative and economic capital of a nation, they generate 0.50 RP/turn
Improved Communications(IC) hex elements are comprised of 4 Class A HPGs, and serve as major transfer hubs, use imrpoved control software, and are housed in heavily fortified bastions to prevent sabotage and collateral damage from conventional warfare. They generate 2.00 RP/turn

Class A and B HPGs have a 2 hex range. ICs have a 4 hex range, thanks to improved(but hugely expensive) improved transmission cores, and new transmission protocols.

Building HPGs
Only service providers(ComStar) are able to build, maintain, or repair HPGs. For a planet to have an HPG built, a faction must contact ComStar and request a new HPG be constructed on the planet. For Class B HPGs, ComStar will generally foot the full bill. For higher cost construction(Class A and ICs), ComStar generally charges a 'Construction Fee' to defer part of the construction costs. This fee is negotiated seperately for each construction site.

Class B HPGs cost 2.5 RP, and take 1 turns to be constructed
Class A HPGs cost 5 RP, and take 1 turns to be constructed
Improved Communications(ICs) cost 24 RP, and take 2 turns to be constructed

[Daemonknight]

Communications Outages

Service Blackout(Interdiction):
At any time, ComStar may decide to interdict a nation by immediately cutting off all HPG service into our out of an area except for ComStar approved clients and ComStar personnel. This effectively cuts off a nation from everyone else; the only alternative is time consuming and even more expensive 'pony express' JumpShip couriers.

Being interdicted has the following game mechanical consequences(in addition to roleplaying and storytelling impact):
I.    The interdicted faction suffers a -4 modifer on intelligence missions targeting different factions
II.    All intelligence missions targeting the interdicted faction receive a -2 modifer. ComStar may choose to waive this penalty for themselves or any other faction.
III.    The interdicted faction loses all trade revenue, and 80% of ownership revenue for the duration of the interdict. The trade losses are reduced by 15% per turn, to a minimum of 0%. The ownership losses are reduced by 10% per turn, to a minimum of 40%.
IV.    Every planet of an interdicted faction suffers the same penalties as planets that lack an HPG.

Special Forces Mission: Distrupt Communications(Strategic):
A Special Forces team attempts to attack a nation's communications network. By breaking into an HPG compound, and introducing a computer virus, the HPG transmission core is sent into overdrive, transmitting hundreds of overcharged pulses per minute. This overloads the core and causes a catastrophic failure. To hide evidence of who perpertrated the attack, the compound is then destroyed with explosives.

ICs are unaffected by these overcharged pulses.

Infected HPGs attempt to overload the cores of the HPGs surrounding them. The GM will roll 2d6 for all HPGs within 2 hexes to see if the overcharged pulses damage them, according to the following table:

Roll
5-8: No Effectively
9: HPG core is damaged, reduce range to 1 hex for 1d6 turns
10: HPG is severely damaged, facility is offline for 1d3 turns
11: HPG is severely damaged, facility is offline for 1d6 turns
12: HPG is destroyed; hex is interdicted until HPG is replaced

[Daemonknight]

Special Movement Orders

In addition to the general movement orders listed in the movement section, several special options are available:

Offensive Ready Reserve
Cost: 1MP for 1FP per planned hex traveled.

Execution: The MP cost must be paid and the target hex specified for the units being placed on Offensive Ready Reserve in the faction orders for the turn; the hex being targeted may not be changed mid-turn.

Forces on Offensive Ready Reserve are not eligible for defensive use in their current hex. Offensive Ready Reserve forces may only be activated if friendly troops become outnumbered during the course of the campaign. Reserve forces may only be drawn from once, and will arrive in the target hex 1 round of combat after being called.

If the attacking force is destroyed or forced to retreat before the reinforcements arrive, those reinforcements stop at the nearest friendly hex to the target.

The attacker may only call up enough reserves to equal the original attacking force (in FP).




Defensive Ready Reserve
Cost: 1MP for 1FP per planned hex traveled.

Execution: The target hex and units placed on reserve must be specified in the faction orders for the turn; MP costs must be paid even if the order is not activated.

Forces on Defensive Ready Reserve are not eligible for defensive operations in their current hex.

Defensive Ready Reserve forces may only be called up after combat begins in the targeted hex and the defending player becomes outnumbered.

Reinforcement may only be called up once per turn for each hex. The reserve forces will arrive in the target system one combat round after being called. If the defending force is destroyed or forced to retreat before the reinforcements arrive, they end the turn in the closest friendly hex.

Defenders may only call up enough reserves to make his force equal the original attackers' FP.


Unplanned Reinforcement
Cost: 2MP for 1FP per hex traveled. Additionally, all RP income from the hex the reinforcing units originate is lost next turn.

Execution: When under attack, or attacking, a player (or a player's allies) may call upon unplanned reinforcements if the forces to be reinforced have already engaged and are outnumbered 2 to 1 or worse.

Reinforcing forces will arrive two rounds of combat after being called up. Unplanned Reinforcement may only be used once per faction, per turn.

If the forces to be reinforced are destroyed or forced to retreat before reinforcements arrive, the force will end the turn in the nearest friendly hex.

There is no limit on the size of force that can be utilized in this fashion, but it can only originate from a single hex.

A dice roll of 8 or higher on 2D6 must be rolled, per unit, once the order is issued, to determine if it is able to muster quickly enough.


Hunting
Cost: The cost of the intelligence order "Formation Location" plus the cost in MP to move the attacking force its maximum per-turn travel per the Movement Rules.

Execution: The player must execute a successful "Formation Location" intelligence operation.

• If this operation is successful, the player's designated attack force will move to the discovered unit's location and engage them.
• If the operation provides false intelligence, the attacking force may end up in the wrong place.
• If the operation provides no information, the attacking force will remain in its starting hex, with the MP spent lost.

Attacking force must follow the Hostile Territory Movement rules.

Upon successful completion of intelligence and arrival in the Hunted unit's location, a forced engagement (either Battle or Naval Engagement) would occur. Both forces must fight at least one round before attempting retreat, and either can interdict the other's withdrawal attempt. Other, non-hunted, units in the same hex are eligible to fight as well, but not forced.


Hostile Territory Movement

Under normal circumstances, forces moving through foreign territory are detected by the hex's owner and may be intercepted.

Unless Clandestine movement is used to conceal the move or Allied movement has been granted, a force seeking to leave a foreign hex must accomplish it through hostile territory movement. The sequence of events for hostile territory movement is as follows:

1. (optional) the faction initiating hostile movement may request permission by private message. This PM must include the intended flight plan of the unit and the unit's FP value. This PM must be copied to the GM account. If the defender allows the hostile movement, no action is required. However, in the event that the movement is denied or there is no response by the 12th of the month, continue to step 2.

2. The faction initiating hostile movement must open a hostile movement thread. The thread must indicate the following:

• Flight plan of the unit
• Total FP of the unit
• Whether or not the unit is moving to engage in a combat operation

3. The faction that owns the hex must either approve or deny the hostile movement within a reasonable timeframe. 'A reasonable timeframe' is defined as:

• For units moving to engage in a combat operation: within 72 hours of the request or by the 15th of the month, whichever is later.
• For units moving for any other purpose: by the end of the turn*.

*Note: if defenders intend to resist the hostile movement, they are still bound by normal combat restrictions. Waiting until the last minute and then initiating a large naval engagement is frowned upon by the GMs.

If the response is to allow the movement, this need only be posted in the movement thread. Otherwise, the hex owner must open a combat thread at the point on the hostile mover's flight plan that they will be intercepted on. A link to this combat thread must be posted in the hostile movement thread.


Restrictions on Hostile Movement

• A unit cannot use Hostile Movement and Invasion orders in the same turn
• A unit cannot use more than one hex of Hostile Movement and Raid or Battle orders in the same turn*
• The 'Hunting' order is an exception to this - Hunters may use as much Hostile Movement as desired and still execute their order

*i.e. these order types cannot be more than two hexes "deep" into enemy territory.


Allied Territory Movement

Allies may allow each other to transit military forces through each other's territory. Allied movement may be requested by PM, carbon copied to the GM account. The PM must contain the following information:

• Full identity of the units moving (name, type, quality, current FP)
• Flight plan of the unit
• Whether or not the unit will conduct combat operations this turn within the ally's territory

The procedure for conducting allied movement is the same as hostile movement. At any time, the ally may deny allied movement, automatically converting the order to hostile movement if the mover opts to continue on their flight plan. 

Allied movement has no restrictions on what type of orders can be combined with it.


Failure to Adhere to Movement Posting Requirements

To ensure proper game balance and passive intelligence gathering, the procedures listed above for hostile and allied movement must be followed. Improperly-documented moves automatically fail; additionally, the GM team reserves the right to apply punitive measures - up to an including the loss of all forces attempting an invalid move - in the event of repeat violations.


Note: There is no option for "neutral" movement. For game mechanical purposes, open movement through foreign hexes must be characterized as either allied or hostile, since this determines what information must be provided to the owner of the hex.


Clandestine Movement

Some mobile units are specifically designated as being capable of Clandestine Movement. This is an option that allows a force to move through foreign territory without utilizing allied or hostile movement. Clandestine movement has none of the restrictions of allied or hostile movement, nor does it require the forces moving in this mode to be posted.

Clandestine Movement has a chance of being detected by the hex owner. Any Clandestine movement, and the flight path being used for that movement, must be noted on both the cover email and the appropriate military tab of the orders sheet. The GMs will provide a Clandestine Movement report along with the other monthly reports, providing instructions to the player as to whether or not they are discovered.

Clandestine forces that are not discovered may proceed directly to their mission. Forces that are discovered must instead immediately post a hostile movement thread for the hex they are discovered in.

Normally, the hex owner will only discover clandestine movers on a roll of 11+ on 2d6. The presence of at least one mobile unit in the hex adds a +2 bonus to this roll. A blockade in the hex adds an additional +2 bonus (for a total of +4).


Improved Clandestine Movement

Some special units (such as Special Forces teams) may use Improved Clandestine Movement. This movement order has all the benefits of Clandestine Movement but has no chance of discovery.

[Daemonknight]

Combat Orders

Recon Raid
Type: Raid
Minimum Force Size: 0.25 FP
Effect: Successful Recon Raids will discover the deployment of forces in the target star system.

Naval Recon
Type: Raid
Minimum Force Size: 0.25 FP
Requirements: May not be executed by static or transported units. Pirate Transit is required.
Effect: On a successful pirate insertion, all enemy naval and aerospace units in the hex are discovered (Name, type, quality, and current FP are revealed). If the pirate insertion fails, the raider has two options...

• The raider may immediately withdraw, without rolling initiative (i.e. there is no opportunity for the enemy to attack them). In this case, the raider  receives no intelligence information.
• The raider may voluntarily lose initiative for the operational round, allowing the enemy to attack it. This may reveal information on some enemy naval forces in the hex.

Resource Raid
Type: Raid
Minimum Force Size: None, but see below.
Effect: If successful, the raiders steal RP equal to the maximum RP output of the hex, or the total FP of the raiding force, whichever is less.

Destroy Resources Raid
Type: Raid
Minimum Force Size: 10% of the RP cost of the hex element being targeted, rounded to the nearest 0.25.
Special: Ground forces are required to target all elements except for SYs and RSes, which must be targeted by naval forces. Hex elements on space stations are an exception to this and must be attacked with naval forces or marines.
Effect: If the raid is successful, roll 2D6:

2–10: Targeted element is offline for a number of turns equal to the roll result.
11-12: Targeted element is destroyed.

HPG: 0.25
MF or IC: 2.50
SY or PF: 5.00
RS: 7.50
Blackbox Factory or HPG Network Hub: 10.00

Invasion
Type: Invasion
Effect: Initiates an Invasion operation, consisting of three or more combat operations. If successful, attacker may gain control of the target world.
Note: Invasions cannot occur without the presence of ground forces. Aerospace fighters may be used on Invasion orders in support of ground forces.

Defense
Type: Any, as per attacker.
Effect: Defends assets of target world or hex (all friendly forces in a star system under attack may use this order, unless they are specifically prohibited by their orders).

Naval Engagement
Type: Battle
Effect: Forces will engage enemy space forces and/or attempt to break an interdiction.

Planned Naval Engagement
Type: Raid
Requirement: Mobile or WarShip movement type. Successful Naval Recon by a different friendly force.
Effect: Forces will engage enemy space assets if a successful naval reconnaissance identified the targets, and if a successful pirate insertion is rolled.  The attack will however only allow one roll of the simple resolution chart or five turns on a 100 x 100 hex map.  This may not be retreated from.  A single formation can be targeted.  A failed pirate insertion will convert this attack to a standard Naval Engagement.

Trial
Type: Battle
Goal: Obtain a desired item through customary Clan methods.
Effect: Whole planets can be acquired through the exertion of minimal resources. Clan Trials minimize waste and maximize results.

Blockade
Type: Invasion
Effect: No forces or supplies can move in, out or through of the Hex any faction save the blockader’s
faction. The Blockade remains in effect until the blockading faction chooses to cease the blockade or the blockade force is destroyed.

Blockade may be bypassed with Blockade Running orders or with Pirate Transit*

During a Blockade no RP from the target hex may be used, and it may only be banked a maximum of one cycle, in addition no troop or Flotilla movements will be allowed in, out or through the hex unless Blockade Running or Pirate Transit* is used.

*The presence of a Blockade imposes a -2 penalty on pirate transit attempts. A failed transit into or out of a blockade hex allows the blockade force the option of immediately attacking the interlopers.

Blockade Running
Type: Movement
Effect: Contest a blockade without directly attacking the blockade force. Roll 2d6;

2-7 - Failure: Blockade force catches the runners and inflicts 2d6x5% of its FP to them. Runners inflict 1d6x5% of their FP on the Blockade force.
8-10 - Failure: Runners are able to escape the Blockade Force but cannot execute their movement order.
11-12 - Successful: Runners are able to execute their movement order.

Commerce Disruption
Phase: Main
Type: Invasion
Effect: Remove a random number of resource points from a power. 2D6 roll: 2= fleet takes 50% damage
and is caught (GM will announce how much information is available to those who caught the Flotilla on
Commerce Raiding) and engages in 2 rounds of combat with defending OZ forces at 50% damage, 3-9 no
effect, 10= 1 resource point of Hex lost (plus lose .5 RP per cycle for three cycles), 11=2 resource points
lost (plus lose .5 RP per cycle for six cycles), 12=100% of Hex resource points lost (plus lose 1 RP per
cycle for 6 cycles). Note multiply lost resource points per Cycle the mission is successful. If the result is
10-12, roll 2D6, on a 2 or 12, power is caught. Any merchant group trading in said area loses equivalent
resource points percentages based on investment in the area.

Patrol
Type: Special
Goal: Defend all worlds in hex.
Requirement: Mobile or WarShip movement type.
Effect: The unit is declared on a standard defensive mission. This normally is done patrolling one hex of
space, but can include two hexs. If an offensive operation is attempted in a hex patrolled by a unit on
Defensive Patrol, the unit may respond, although its effectiveness against raids, battles and invasions
are different. They may be utilized as the forces defending an aero based raid if the raid is uncovered,
or as the percentage of raiding force defending. If a battle, they may defend on a roll of 5+ on 2D6.
They may always defend against Invasions.

The second hex must be specified in the faction orders and must be adjacent to the first.

Ground Support
Type: Battle
Requirement: Non-WarShip Aerospace units.
Effect: Eligible ASF units can contribute their FP in support of ground operations.

Guerilla Warfare
Type: Special Scenario
Requirement: Ground forces that have survived at least one round of combat since the start of combat operations and which have been reduced to 10.00 FP or less*.
*If a Castle Brian or similar fortification is present, this scenario works differently; see below.

Effect: Forces designated as Guerillas immediately take 1d6 FP of damage reflecting abandonment of equipment. Once active, Guerilla status may be maintained indefinitely. Guerilla units may not be the target of any combat order.
Once per turn, hostile forces garrisoning the same planet may attempt to pin down the Guerillas. On a roll of 10+ on 2d6, the Guerilla status is cancelled. On a roll of 2-9, the Guerilla force rolls on the Interdiction/Guerilla warfare table and sustains the indicated percentage of losses.

Castles Brian and other super-fortifications
Game mechanically, units protected by a Castle Brian functions as if they were using Guerilla Warfare, except the 10 FP maximum force size limit does not apply and units entering the Castle do not take damage from equipment abandonment. Each round, the enemy may attempt to penetrate the defenses (using ground FP only) on a 10+ on 2d6; otherwise, the attackers are repelled by the static defenses and the defenders take damage based on a single roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart; unlike normal guerilla warfare, these static defenses also damage the attacker; regardless of whether or not they penetrate the defenses, the attacker takes damage according to a roll on the Guerilla Warfare chart.


Scatter
Type: Special Scenario
Effect: Forces can be scattered to avoid orbital attacks. Scattering makes all but 2d6+5% of the force immune to orbital attacks, but also leaves 2d6% of the force out of position and unable to participate in the next round of combat (invasion scenarios).


Defensive Interdiction
Type: Special
Requirement: Aerospace units
Effect: Successful interdiction prevents attacking transports from landing their troops. This is the default combat order for defensive aerospace and naval forces, and may be changed before the engagement if the defending player so chooses. If an interdiction is cancelled, there is nothing to stop the transports from landing.

Note: Naval Engagement or Break Interdiction orders can be used to penetrate interdiction. If 25% of the interdiction force is destroyed, the interdiction fails and is no longer effective.

Offensive Interdiction
Type: Special
Requirement: Aerospace units
Effect: Successful interdiction prevents defending transports from retreating from a system. Offensive Interdiction is only possible where no hostile forces are on interdicton, blockade, or naval engagement orders.

Note: Naval Engagement or Break Interdiction orders can be used to penetrate interdiction. If 25% of the interdiction force is destroyed, the interdiction fails and is no longer effective.
 


Break Interdiction
Type: Battle
Requirement: Non-aerospace units attempting to execute a movement order
Effect: If a force has no remaining aerospace or naval units and thus cannot use Naval Engagement to contest interdiction, it may continue attempting to break through the interdiction by using its transports to attack. When this is done, the attacker rolls on the Interdiction chart with a -2 modifier for damage dealt to the enemy. The interdicting force also rolls on the Interdiction chart, with a +2 modifier to determine its damage dealt.

This process may be repeated until the interdiction is broken, the attackers are destroyed, the attackers surrender, or the interdicter lets them go.

[Daemonknight]

Weapons of Mass Destruction

Weapons of Mass Destruction are a category of weapons that includes nuclear, chemical, biological, and orbital weapons. Sometimes euphemistically referred to as strategic weapons, limited WMD use can dramatically alter the outcome of even a large battle; however, WMD can also cause serious economic and ecological disruption, making their use controversial.

WMD are represented in the game by 'tokens' which can be used to add special scenarios to combat orders (to to apply certain effects outside of normal combat). The token types are:

☢ - Nuclear Weapon (formerly *)
☠ - Chemical Weapon (formerly #)
☣ - Biological Weapon (formerly ß)
◆ - Orbital Strike
◇ - Orbital Strike (limited)
⊽ - Unknown

Accounting for Tokens

Tokens are normally attached to military units, and are listed in the unit's name.

 For example: 12th Striker Cluster ☢☢☢

Because an attached token is part of a unit's name, its presence is disclosed whenever that unit's name is disclosed. Tokens do not change the FP value of a unit and do not impact the unit's movement provile.

Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, and ⊽ tokens may also be stockpiled. Stockpiles are transported units listed on the ground forces tab. Stockpiles cannot initiate combat and will surrender if no other friendly forces are in the hex. For the purposes of calculating movement costs, each token is worth 5 FP. Stockpiles are detected normally by intelligence and reconnaisance orders that reveal ground units.

Obtaining Tokens

Some tokens are manufacutered by various hex improvements:

• Nuclear Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: 25 RP each
• Chemical Tokens: manufactured at MF. Cost: 5 RP each
• Biological Tokens: manufactured at PF. Cost: variable, see biowarfare R&D path

Orbital strike tokens are generated by certain types of naval units:

• A WarShip with FP value of 0.25-4.75 has one ◇ token. This token, if used, is replaced at the end of the turn.
• A WarShip with an FP value of 5.00 or more has one ◆ token, plus one additional ◆ for every further 10.00 FP (15, 25, 35, etc). These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the operational round.
• For every 5.0 FP (or fraction thereof) of capital- or subcapital-armed DropShips, a naval unit has one ◇ token. These tokens, if used, are replaced at the end of the turn.

It is currently unknown how to obtain ⊽ tokens.


Special Scenarios Table
The table below describes the special scenarios that can be added by spending tokens:

Special Scenario	☢	☠	☣	◆	◇	⊽
Inflict 1d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled*	x	x	-	x	x	?
Inflict 2d6 damage to an enemy unit before simple resolution is rolled**	x	-	-	x	x	?
Force a WarShip to make a survival roll (ship is always destroyed if roll fails)	x	-	-	-	-	?
Destroy a Space Station	x	-	-	x	-	?
Use one nuclear weapon in MegaMek	x	-	-	-	-	?
Execute a "Sabotage Hex Element" order	x	x	-	x	x	?
Execute a "Terrorism" order***	x	x	-	x	x	?
Damage planetary biosphere (on a "12" on 2d6, downgrade the planet by one level of development)	x	x	-	x	-	?
Add a +1 on simple resolution for marine boarding operations	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Attack Special Forces Team" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Add a +1 bonus to an "Assassination" order	-	x	-	-	-	?
Infect the hex with a biological weapon	-	-	x	-	-	?
??	-	-	-	-	-	?

*On a roll of "1" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
**On a roll of "2" reroll and apply that damage to a friendly unit
***Note that this represents deliberately targeting the civilian population of the hex. Multiple successes in the same turn extend the terror period to 5, 7, 8, 9, and 10 turns respectively (maximum 10 turns).

Orders Cleanup

These rules render the Tactical Orbital Bombardment and General Orbital Bombardment orders obsolete. Those orders are abolished.

The Scatter order may be used against any damage-inflicting token-based special scenario which targets a ground unit.

The Horrors of War

Large-scale combat, especially in conjunction with WMD use, has a serious disruptive effect on nearby economies. Part of this is due to an outpouring of refugees fleeing the warzone, part is due to disruption of trade routes, and part of it is due to the diversion of civil resources to recovery and damage-mitigation efforts.

Any time more any WMD tokens are used or when more than a total of 25 FP of damage is inflicted in a single operational round, roll on the Horrors of War table at the end of the turn.

Modifiers:

• +1 for every 50 FP of total damage inflicted over the course of the turn
• +1 for every token used
• +1 for every token used against a ground target (cumulative)
• +5 if a terrorism order was used that turn

2d6 Roll	Result
2-9	No Effect
10-14	Hex is terrorized for 3 turns*
15	As 10-14 plus one adjacent hex is terrorized for 3 turns**
16	As 10-14 plus two adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
17	As 10-14 plus three adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
18	As 10-14 plus four adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
19	As 10-14 plus five adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
20	As 10-14 plus all adjacent hexes are terrorized for 3 turns**
21-25	As 20, plus roll a sabotage hex element against each hex improvement in the battle location's hex. If a space station is present in the hex, it is destroyed.
26+	As 21-25, plus check for biosphere damage. Add a bonus to the roll equal to the amount by which the Horrors of War roll exceeded 26. For example: on a roll of 30, add a +4 modifier to the roll.

*If already terrorized by separate action, extend the terror duration per the rules for multple token-based terrorism orders as described above.
**Determine which adjacent hex randomly.

[Daemonknight]

Combat Rules

Types of Combat

There are three types of combat in the FC:

Raid: a quick strike, usually executed by a small force, with a specific objective. The attacker may not use more than 10FP total aero and ground forces in a raid.

In a Raid scenario, the defender may not be able to deploy their full defenses: roll on the raid defense chart to determine what percentage of the raid force can be mustered by the defender (if available). If the raid made successful pirate transit, apply a -2 modifier to the roll.

If pirate entry was not used, a raid transit roll must still be made to determine if air defense can intercept the raiding party.

Aerospace forces may not intercept an attacker’s raiding party, unless the raid itself is targeting an aerospace facility with aerospace forces or raiding force fails it's transit roll.  

Defenders may not attack if raiding party retreats.

Only one raid per faction may be conducted against a planet in a single turn.

Note: A Raiding force may not retreat once a roll has been made on the Raid Defense Table.

Battles: a large scale engagement where a two or more factions' forces engage in combat.

Unless pirate transit was used, Aerospace forces may use interdiction to prevent hostile forces from arriving or leaving.

Clan Trials fall into this category for rules purposes.


Invasion – This is a special category of engagement that includes multiple raid and battle scenarios linked together.

Invasion forces cannot use pirate transit, so hostile aerospace forces may always attempt interdiction.

An invasion normally continues until either one side is destroyed or flees, or three ground Battle missions have been completed; in some cases, this can cause an Invasion to spill over into subsequent turns.

At the end of three ground Battles during an invasion, the faction with the lower total FP on the ground or loser of three engagements, loses the invasion and must retreat to an adjacent uncontested friendly hex at no cost in MP (or retreat to orbit if the looser on the ground maintained air superiority).

If the winning force meets the requirements, offensive interdiction can be used to harry a retreating enemy force.

Declaring Forces

When declaring an order (including defensive orders) the full identity of any involved units must be disclosed (name, type, quality, current FP). It is not neccessary to disclose units not participating in the order.

Third Parties' Responsibilities

If a thread goes to GM resolution at the end of the turn, the GM team will look up the forces belonging to the attacker and to the owner of the hex from the orders sheets. Any third parties present are responsible for posting the forces at their disposal before the thread goes to GM resolution. Failure to do so will result in those forces not participating in combat. In the event of repeat failures to notify the GMs of 3rd party forces, the offending forces may be subject to penalties up to and including destruction.

Method of Resolution

Players may opt to resolve combat either by playing the battle in MegaMek or by rolling on the Simple Resolution chart. If players cannot agree on the details of a MegaMek match, Simple Resolution should be used.


MegaMek
Prior to rolling simple resolution or playing a MegaMek match, each side must allocate the percentage of their available force points used in each engagement. This may be announced in the thread or sent privately to each game master. Even if GM notification is selected, the forces used must be disclosed in the combat thread once combat has been resolved.

When using MegaMek, the players organize and complete the combat operation in MegaMek. Preferably, players from the participating factions will play the games. However, a neutral (meaning a player whose faction will not be affected by the outcome of the battle) stand-in may be used with the approval of both sides.

Each game is equivalent to a single engagement, with both sides able to retreat or surrender at any time between games.

FP loss in MegaMek should be calculated by the percentage of Battle Value lost, rather than the actual units destroyed (note: to correctly calculate BV, Force Battle Value Modifier must be disabled).

In large battles, one unit in MegaMek can be used to represent more than one actual unit in FGC; a common approach is for one MegaMek unit to represent one company (or binary). Unit selection should be based on what equipment is available to each force, and each unit should be representing a specific unit. For example, a Medium Inner Sphere Standard mech company would be represented by a Inner Sphere Standard-technology medium 'Mech. If that unit is veteran, then the mech used should be a veteran, as this mech (or fighter or warship) is representative of the unit.

Simple Resolution
In Simple Resolution, each faction rolls 2d6 and consults the Simple Resolution table to determine what percentage of their FP they inflict as damage to the enemy.

There are several different simple resolution charts; the chart closest to the actual difference in opposing forces should be used.

On a roll of 8 or higher, the player rolling needs to roll for a chance of critical event.
On a roll of 3 or lower, the opposing player rolls on a chance of critical event.

If a chance of critical event is rolled, roll 2D6:

2-7 no critical event occurs
8-9 one critical event is rolled
10-11 two critical events need to be rolled
12 three critical events should be rolled or victory declared with the defender retreating*

*choice of player who rolls the critical event, if forcing retreat is called then a minimum of 10% of this players forces survive, after calculating that turns damage.

If any critical events are rolled, the effects are applied to the current results.

The side that won the mission is required to post an after action report listing the forces involved, simple resolution rolls, and forces surviving.

If there are additional rounds of combat to be resolved, the wining side gains a +1 for initiative rolls.

Combat Procedure

The general procedure for combat is as follows:

1. Initiative: all involved factions roll 2d6 to determine the order they will declare orders in.

2. Declare Orders: each faction announces its actions.

3. Special Scenarios: any unique rules or conditions should be disclosed at this point (if they have not already).

4. Resolution: play MegaMek or roll for simple resolution.

For simple resolution, use the following method to determine damage:

a. Roll 2d6
b. Apply any dice roll modifiers
c. Determine the base damage percentage from steps 1 and 2
d. Roll for critical events if applicable
e. Apply the results of any capture/encircle results immediately, before calculating damage.
f. Apply positive or negative modifiers to the damage percentage. For example, critical event #12 increases damage by 30%. If the initial roll was a "7" (40%) then this event will increase the damage percentage to 70%.
g. Apply any multiplicative modifiers. Continuing with the previous example, if critical event #11 was also rolled, it would be applied at this stage, increasing the damage amount to 140%
h. Multiply the attacker's FP (as modified by step 5) by the final damage percentage to determine the amount of FP damage inflicted upon the enemy.

For MegaMek, each side loses FP in proportion to the percentage of BV they lost in the MegaMek match.

5. Damage Control: any force that took damage but survived the combat regains 10% of the lost FP (round to the nearest 0.25).

6. Conclusion: in Raid and Battle type scenarios, the attacker withdraws to an adjacent friendly hex (if applicable). In Invasions, repeat steps 1-5 as neccessary until the Invasion has been completed.

Note: Each turn only contains six combat rounds. Invasion scenarios that continue past round six spill over into the next turn.

7. Salvage: Determine the total actual damage sustained and roll 2d6 to determine the percentage that is salvageable. Add a +5 bonus for raids, +10 for battles, and +15 for invasions (as well as an additional +10 incentive bonus if all operations were played out in MegaMek). Salvage is claimed by the faction that ends the turn in control of the planet, except for raids where the raider may roll on the Raid Salvage chart to steal a percentage of the available salvage (apply a +2 modifier if the raid was successful)*.

*If the operation was a Clan trial, and Zellbrigen was upheld for the entire fight, salvage is automatically 50%.

Surrender

Forces may surrender at any point in a campaign. When this occurs, the conquering force assimilates the equipment (FP value of the surrendered force, minus skill modifiers), on top of any salvage. The difference in FP between the skill-modified and green levels is considered the value of the personnel, and may be ransomed for that value in RP. If the surrendering force is green-rated, take 20% of the FP value. They may also be imprisoned or executed at the conqueror’s discretion.

At both sides discretion, terms of surrender can be negotiated that may differ from the guidelines listed above. Both sides must agree to the terms or else these default rules are used.




Hostile Boarding Rules

Under certain circumstances,  marine forces may attempt to board and capture enemy vessels. Boarding can occur under the following circumstances:

• When directed by a critical event in simple resolution
• When a small craft carrying marines executes a forced boarding in MegaMek*
• When an EVA marine unit executes a forced boarding in MegaMek*

*As of version 35.24, the actual boarding portion of this procedure is not supported in MegaMek. Once the unit meets the boarding criteria and reaches the appropriate phase, the actual boarding attempt must be rolled manually.

When boarding is dictated by a critical event, the attacking ship with the best marine contingent is assumed to make the attempt, and uses its full marine contingent in the effort. Additionally, up to four battle taxis from that ship may assist - see the special rules for Battle Taxis below.


Naval boarding resolution

Once hostile units are onboard a naval vessel, they immediately begin rolling simple resolution against any defending marines once a turn starting in the turn they board (make this roll in the End Phase).

If hostile boarding occurs during simple resolution and a clear victor is not established after the initial roll, continue rolling simple resolution until the boarding forces are repelled or the ship is captured before moving onto the next operational round. This represents the intense, close-quarters nature of a naval boarding - the rolls represent minutes of combat rather than weeks.

Any ship that begins its turn with no remaining defenders is captured by the enemy. It must disengage at best possible safe speed and may not fire weapons, load or unload craft, or attempt any action that requires a piloting skill roll.

When a ship is captured, the following stipulations apply:

• Until the ship can return to a friendly industrial type hex improvement, it may only execute movement orders (it is assumed to be under operation by a prize crew, and lacks the trained naval crew neccessary to conduct combat operations). The ship may defend itself if attacked but is considered green skill (5/6) and may not use any special weapons modes (bracketed fire, etc).
• Unless fighters or small craft were actually onboard when the ship was captured (this would only occur in MegaMek) those units are not captured with the ship. They become a 'survivor' unit just as would happen if a WarShip was destroyed.
• The ship drops to Green skill until it reaches a friendly industrial type hex improvement. At the end of that turn it takes on new crew, becomes Regular, and loses the combat restrictions mentioned above.

Using Battle Taxis

The NL-42 Battle Taxi is a specialized small craft that improves the effectiveness of marines during their first turn of boarding action. The special bonuses here for Battle Taxis only apply such craft if they are listed in the "BT" column of the naval tab. Note that every faction may build Battle Taxis - if they do not produce the actual NL-42 model, it is assumed they have an equivalent (and statistically identical) local design.

Battle Taxis have the following characteristics:

• Each battle taxis is considered to be a 0.25 FP marine unit for cost purposes
• Like other marine type units, Battle Taxis do not contribute their FP to their parent unit's naval FP
• If a battle taxis successfully docks, it contributes its FP to the first simple resolution roll
• In critical event-directed boardings, if more than one Battle Taxi are available to the attacker, up to four may dock with the target. Roll 1d4 to determine how many dock.

Lupus assault craft: the Wolf Dragoons' clan technology version of the Battle Taxi provided a 0.50 FP bonus in previous versions of the rules. This unit is currently not in MegaMek and is not supported by the current version of the record sheet. Lupus craft will be added back into the game at a future date.

Ship's Militia

When boarded, a portion of a WarShip's crew is detailed for internal defense. This Ship's Militia is worth 1.0 FP and follows all the rules listed above for militia (including surrending when a 'routed' result is rolled). Ship's Militia will aid in the defense of a WarShip even if a separate friendly marine force is present.


Coordinated Military Actions

The following rules apply to scenarios involving multifaction combat forces.

The coordinating factions must appoint a single player from within their alliance to be the commander for the combat. This person will make all tactical decisions for the engagement. If an individual cannot be agreed upon, the faction leader committing the largest force is the default choice.

The initial post by the coordinating factions must include all FP assigned to the combat, including blockaded forces, from every faction involved.

Once coordination is agreed upon, the member factions can only interject into the combat process, in-character, to withdraw from the alliance. All affected forces will immediately disengage and will not be eligible for further combat unless specifically attacked.

[Daemonknight]

Naval Recovery and Scuttling

Simple Resolution - determining WarShip survival

If a WarShip or JumpShip unit takes any damage during simple resolution (but not enough to destroy the entire unit), roll 2d6. On a roll of 5 or less, apply all available damage to the portion of the unit's FP representing the WarShip or JumpShip itself (bypassing fighters, dropships, and other support units). If enough damage was sustained to deplete the WarShip or JumpShip's FP to zero, the vessel is destroyed.

If a WarShip or JumpShip is lost in this fashion but the overall unit still has FP (from support units), these units become a separate transported 'survivor' unit.

Example

SLS Target, a 6 FP unit built around a 4 FP Lola III destroyer sustains 5 FP. The Lola rolls a 3 on its survival check, so damage is applied to it first. 4 of the 5 FP inflicted destroys the Lola, but the 1 FP left is not sufficient to destroy the entire unit. Once combat is resolved, the remaining 1 FP would become a 1 FP transported ASF unit - "SLS Target Survivors."

The Honors of War

During the Succession Wars of the 30th and 31st century, it was customary to not attack JumpShips; similarly, the Clans have historically regarded attacking unarmed transport JumpShips as wasteful and have avoided it when possible.

JumpShips that do not contribute their FP to a battle (note that most JumpShips have either no FP or only a very small amount) are exempt from survival rolls unless the opposite faction specifically notes (during the Special Scenario step) that their forces are attempting to destroy the enemy JumpShips.

There are no game mechanical consequences for attacking JumpShips, though players are free to impose restrictions or penalties on this type of conduct through in-game roleplaying means.

Determining WarShip Salvage

WarShips destroyed in combat are salvageable on a 10+ on 2d6. Any ships that fail this check are total losses and cannot be salvaged.

Apply a +2 to the salvage check if the WarShip was destroyed in a MegaMek game.

Method of Recovery

It is not easy to recover a destroyed warship, even in friendly space. A Yardship or Shipyard in the same hex is required before any work can begin. The hex must be owned by the recovering faction, or be owned by a friendly faction with a Guest Shipyard or YardShip owned by you in it. Salvage operations may not take place in contested hexes.

A salvageable vessel is considered to be a Flotilla with an FP strength of zero. Before the vessel can be moved, it must be 50% restored in FP value (based on the FP of the WarShip alone). The vessel is not capable of offensive or defensive action until it is 100% restored in FP value (again based on the ship alone). If the hex the vessel is in is attacked before the ship is recovered, it is to be considered stationary and non-combat. Even if restored to 99% (of the ship's value), it may not participate in combat. If the hex is lost to another faction, that faction may claim the vessel and continue recovering it at the state you had it in (i.e. 99%).

The cost for salvaging a vessel is 1RP per 1FP. In game terms, the jump drive is considered functional so does not need to be replaced - thus negating the need for x5 and x9 modifiers to cost. This cost is only valid up to the point you reach the original flotilla's strength (including ASF/DropShips/Marines/Etc.). It does not matter if the original size was 2.5FP or 250FP.

Bonuses to MP Pools based on salvaged vessels (for Mobile FP or collars or cargo) do not count until the entire flotilla is restored to full strength.

Scuttling

There are two ways to scuttle a ship. The first is to scuttle a salvageable vessel to prevent another from recovering it. The second is to scuttle a ship in combat.

You may only attempt to scuttle a salvageable vessel once per turn per ship. It requires a roll of 9 or better to succeed, and a space-based combat force from your faction must be in the hex at the same time to carry out the action. There is no other cost. It may be attempted as many times consecutively as necessary, and is permanent once successful.

Scuttling during combat immediately removes the ship and any additional FP remaining in the flotilla from combat. Player characters and other crew still alive in that flotilla are considered to have escaped the battle alive. Combat Scuttling must be declared before the Combat Round is resolved. All vessels scuttled during combat are salvageable.

[Daemonknight]

Intelligence Operations

Cost: The cost listed is for the operation on a flat die roll (no modifiers). Unless bonuses are prohibited by the text of the operation, paying twice the cost adds a +1 to the roll. Four times the cost adds a +2, and eight times adds a +3 bonus.

General Rules: All intelligence operations are rolled on 2d6. Generally an 8 or better is required for the basic level of success, with higher rolls resulting in additional information or benefits.

Low Rolls: An unmodified roll of 3-4 results in false or erroneous intelligence being received. An unmodified roll of 2 results in the operation being compromised (GMs will work with the faction who defeated the operation to determine the specific outcome).

Stacking attempts: Each faction may attempt a specific operation against a specific target once each turn. One faction cannot, for example, attempt 10 formation location rolls for the same target in a single turn; however, allied factions may work together to undertake multiple attempts on the same goal (one per faction).


Planetary Garrison Posting
Cost: 0.5 RP

Targets a single hex, attempting to identify defenders.

Roll   Result
5-7   No intelligence gathered
8   Names of units present at the start of the turn
9   Names and quality
10   Names, quality, current FP
11   As 10, plus the names of any units scheduled to arrive
12   As 10, plus the names and quality of any incoming units
13+   As 10, plus the names, quality, and current FP of any incoming units

Alternate outcome: If specified in the orders, the additional information at 11+ can be 'reversed' to reveal departing units instead of arriving units.


Industrial Espionage
Cost: 5.0 RP

Operator attempts to steal a design or technology from a neighboring faction.

General industrial espionage, resulting in a random theft (determined by the GMs) requires an 8+ to succeed
Stealing the plans for a specific small unit design requires a 10+
Stealing the plans for a specific enemy technology or a large unit (DropShip or larger) needs a 12+ to succeed




Operational Orders
Cost: 1.0 RP

Targets either a single unit (hex does not need to be known or specified) or all units in a specific hex.

Roll   Result
5-7   No intelligence gathered
8-9   Core order (move, raid, invasion, etc) only revealed.
10-11   Core order and target of orders revealed
12   Core order, target of orders, and flight path to accomplish orders are all revealed

Alternate outcome: If specified in orders, this order can reveal a units orders and other information during the previous turn rather than the current.



VIP Location
Cost: 5.0 RP

Targets a specific character.

Roll   Result
5-7   No intelligence gathered
8-9   Location only is revealed
10-11   Location, plus presence or absence of protective detail
12+   Location plus specific details of protective detail

Alternate outcome: If specified, this order can be used to reveal location and protection during the previous turn instead of the present.



Formation Location
Cost: 0.5 RP

Targets a specific unit

Roll   Result
5-7   No intelligence gathered
8-9   Starting location of a specific unit
10-11   Starting and ending location of a specific unit
12+   As 10-11 plus an ambush location is made available (GMs will determine the exact location)

Note: This operation can be used to locate a special forces team, even if the nationality and name of the team is not known as long as that unit conducted an operation or executed a combat order during the most recent turn.

Alternate outcome: If specific, this order can be used to track the movement of a unit during the previous turn; if so, 8-9 reveals the end location instead of the start location. Results of 12+ provide an additional turn of 'history' for each result above 11 (i.e. 12 reveals the last 2 turns, 13 the last 3, and so forth).

Interaction with Hunting order: Hunters can be dispatched either to the start or end hex (if both are known). If an ambush site is provided, this may also be used for hunting.



Disseminate Domestic Disinformation
Cost: 5.0 RP

Conceal a specific detail about your faction's activities. A common use is to conceal the natioality of forces being used in combat.

The base difficulty of this operation is 8+ on 2d6; the GMs will adjust the difficulty based on the specific details of the operation (i.e. concealing the nationality of a unique warship will be harder than disguising a company of 'Mech raiders).

A roll that does not meet the target number set by the GMs may still result in a partial success; they will adjust the results accordingly.



Disseminate Foreign Disinformation
Cost: 5.0 RP

Propogate false information about a rival faction. Commonly used to frame an enemy faction for intelligence operations or military attacks.

The rules listed for Disseminate Domestic Disinformation apply to this order as well.



Turn Agent
Cost: 10.0 RP

Attempt to compromise a specific faction's intelligence operations targeting the Operator's faction. This operation is ineffective against Special Operations.

Roll   Result
5-9   No effect
10   1d6 enemy operations are treated as if they rolled an unmodified 4
11   1d6 enemy operations are treated as if they rolled an unmodified 3
12+   1d6 enemy operations are treated as if they rolled an unmodified 2



Investigation
Cost: 2.5 RP

Attempt to gain information about past activities or plot events.

The GMs will set the difficulty based on how specific the investigation is and how obscure the information sought is. Partial success is possible.


Counterintelligence Operations
Cost: 5.0 RP

This order represents a general increased emphasis on counterintelligence operations faction-wide. At its basic level, CIO increases the amount of information reported by Passive Intelligence Operations. If an additional bonus is purchased, this translates into a penalty on enemy intelligence rolls.

Counterintelligence Operations do not affect Special Operations orders.




Passive Intelligence Operations
Cost: N/A

Failed enemy actions may provide clues that are detected by the Operator's faction. Passive Intelligence Operations does not need to be listed on the orders sheet; this operation is always active.

[Daemonknight]

Special Operations


Special Forces are elite (or better) military units that offer a number of special capabilities to their owners. A number of additional intelligence operations exist that may only be attempted if a friendly special forces team is in the target hex.


Construction: A Special Forces team costs 12 RP and takes 6 turns to build (however, see "low-quality units" below).

Composition: Before skill modifiers, a Special Forces team is worth 1.0 FP in actual combat. This FP can be used in either ground or air combat, and may consist of any legal combination of units to equal the 1.0 FP amount. The actual FP amount is an abstraction; as long as the unit is active, it automatically returns to full strength at the end of the turn if it is not destroyed.

Skill: A newly-constructed Special Forces team is Elite. After one successful operation, they may be trained to Heroic (x2.24 FP multiplier). After three more successful operations, they may be trained to Legendary (x2.63 FP multiplier). Heroic special forces teams receive a +1 modifier on their operational rolls; Legendary units receive a +2.

Training: Special Forces teams may be trained using the normal training rules, but should be treated as if their base FP was 12 instead of 1.

Limits: A faction may have no more than three special forces teams, or an amount equal to its total number of PFs, whichever is greater. If for any reason a faction has more units than it is allowed (as a result of losing PFs, for example), it cannot build more teams until its number drops to below its limit.

Movement: Special Forces teams move by Improved Clandestine Movement (no hostile movement posts required, no chance of detection by defenders, automatic successful raid insertion) and have the LFB Mobile movement class. Special Forces teams cannot spend movement points, so their maximum move per turn is six hexes.

Core Abilities: The presence of a Special Forces team in a hex allows for Special Forces Intelligence Operations to be attempted. The presence and nationality of a Special Forces team only needs to be revealed if that unit attempts a raid, battle, or other standard combat order (assuming their nationality has not been concealed with a Disinformation operation).

Low-Quality Units: It is possible to build special forces units at Veteran or even Regular quality. A Veteran SO team receives a -1 penalty on all of its rolls, costs 8 RP and takes 3 turns to build; a Regular SO team receives a -2 penalty on all of its rolls, costs 5 RP, and takes 1 turn to build.

Escape and Evasion: In the event of a failed Special Forces Intelligence Operation, the team is not automatically destroyed. Instead, the GMs will roll on the following table, applying only the team's Operations skill modifier.

Roll      Result
2      Team is captured               
3      Team is surrounded, must surrender or commit suicide   
4      Team is heavily damaged, must move to a friendly PF and spend 1d6 turns repairing and rebuilding, nationality revealed.
5      Team is moderately damaged, must move to a friendly hex and spend 1d6 turns repairing and rebuilding, nationality revealed.
6      Team is lightly damaged, must spend 1d6 turns repairing and rebuilding, nationality revealed.
7      Team escapes undamaged, but its nationality is discovered.
8+      Team escapes undamaged and its identity remains unknown.

Note that a seperate Disseminate Disinformation operation can conceal the nationality of the team on a result of 3-7, but not on a surrender.

Operational Costs: Special Forces operations may be given bonuses on their rolls at the same costs as normal intelligence operations.


Protect VIP
Cost: 0.5 RP

The team protects a specific character.

All intelligence operations targeting the VIP suffer a -2 modifier on their operation roll; this penalty is further increased if a higher level of protection is paid for (i.e. paying for a +1 modifier leads to a net -3 penalty to enemy operations).

Additionally, if an enemy special forces team targets the VIP, they must fight the defending special forces team for one round of combat to reach their target - per interdiction rules, if they fail to inflict at least 25% on the defenders, they are unable to reach their target; the operation automatically fails and the attacker must still roll for Escape and Evasion.



Protect Hex Element
Cost: 1.0 RP

The team protects the hex improvements in a specific hex.

This operation follows the same rules as Protect VIP.



Disrupt Communications(Tactical)
Cost: 1.0 RP

The team attempts to disrupt enemy communications, leaving some enemy units out of position in the course of a larger campaign.

Unless specified otherwise in the orders, this operation is attempted during the Special Scenarios phase of the first round of combat to occur in the target hex.

Roll         Result
5-9         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
10         5% of the enemy force is out of position for one operational round.
11         10% of the enemy force is out of position
12         15% of the enemy force is out of position
13+         20% of the enemy force is out of position

Forces out of position due to disrupted communiations may not participate in that round of combat; in the context of this order, "enemy force" means the total of all enemy forces in the hex, taken proportionately from each individual unit present.




Disrupt Communications(Strategic)
Cost: 5.0 RP

The team launches an assault on the local HPG compound, attempting to upload a computer virus to bring down the local HPG network. Note that this mission is an attack on a ComStar facility, with the intent of disrupting another nation's HPG network.

Roll          Result
2-8          Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
9-10        Operation fails, team avoids detection
11           Upload failed, but HPG is destroyed
12           Mission Successful; see Communications Rules for effects, and HPG is destroyed



Destroy Supplies
Cost: 2.0 RP

The team attacks enemy supply lines.

Unless specified otherwise in the others, this operation is first attempted during the Special Scenarios phase of the first round of combat to occur in the target hex.

If successful, this operation can be attempted again in the next operational round. The results are cumulative (i.e. two successes result in a total of 30% of the enemy force being disabled for the rest of the turn).


Roll         Result
5-11         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
12+         Operation succeeds, 15% of the enemy force is out of action for the turn, team may roll again in the next operational round.




Sabotage Hex Element
Cost: 5.0 RP

The team attacks either a specific hex improvement or a target of opportunity.

If no specific target is indicated a +1 bonus is applied to the roll. The GMs will randomly select a target.


Roll         Result
5-7         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
8         Facility is offline for 1d6 turns
9         Facility is offline for 2d6 turns
10+         Facility is destroyed



Attack Enemy SF Team
Cost: 5.0 RP

The team attacks an enemy special forces team in the same hex. If a bonus is purchased for this operation, apply that bonus to the simple resolution roll* but not to any other rolls made.

Whichever team inflicts less damage must roll on the Escape and Evasion table.

*If the match is resolved by means other than Simple Resolution, the players involved should agree on an appropriate special to reflect any bonus that the attacker has paid for.



Incite Revolt
Cost: 25.0 RP

The team, with material support from their home faction, arms and trains rebel forces in the target hex.


Roll         Result
5-9         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
10         1d6 FP of rebels appear and the hex is terrorized for three turns
11         2d6 FP of rebels appear and the hex is terrorized for three turns
12         4d6 FP of rebels appear and the hex is terrorized for three turns
13+         8d6 FP of rebels appear and the hex is terrorized for three turns



Disrupt Research
Cost: 15.0 RP

The team infiltrates another faction's prestigious facility in an attempt to disrupt, or even steal, that nation's research.

Roll           Effect
2-9           Mission Failure, roll for Escape and Evasion
10-11        Mission Failure, team escapes, nationality revealed
12            Mission Success, targeted PF generates no SP on next activation(faction still loses RP), nationality revealed
13            Mission Success, targeted PF's SP goes to SF team's faction, nationality hidden
14+          Mission Success, steal all SP from the research project this PF is currently working on, target faction loses 50% of progress, OR 5% chance the faction that launched the mission gains a random technology instead of SP; team nationality is hidden




Headhunting
Cost: 10.0 RP

The team attacks the enemy's commanders, temporarily reducing the enemy's skill level.

Roll         Result
5-7         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
8-11         Enemy units in the hex temporarily lose one skill level for the turn
12+         As 8-11, plus the enemy's overall commander in theater is killed


Terrorism
Cost: 2.0 RP

The team attacks a hex's civilian population.

Roll         Result
5-9         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
10+         Hex is terrorized for three turns



Assassination/Kidnapping
Cost: 15.0 RP

The team attempts to kill or kidnap a specific VIP


Roll         Result
5-7         Operation fails, roll for Escape and Evasion
8         Target sustains minor injuries, no game effect - RP only; kidnappings fail
9         Target is injured, out of action for one turn; kidnappings fail
10         Target is seriously injured, out of action for 1d6 turns; kidnappings fail
11         Target is killed or kidnapped

[Daemonknight]

Hex Maps


The official game map should be regarded as In-Character information known to all factions.

All worlds, infrastructure, and ownership information is to be updated every turn (as needed) in the cover email for each faction's orders. Any failure to properly maintain the accuracy of your faction's map representation will result in the loss of missing elements. The only exception is worlds/elements hidden in canon (i.e. The Five), or locations not yet published (i.e. Barbados).

At this time, there is no way to permanently hide the identity or location of your worlds or infrastructure intentionally; however, Disseminate Disinformation operations can be used to temporarily delay a map update.

[Daemonknight]

Biological Weapons

Bioweapons have a wide variety of properties that are unlocked through R&D. Each faction must track the "recipes" they know and assign as specific recipe to every ß biological warfare token they own.

The properties of BW agents are described with three statistics: duration, spread, and strength.

• Duration is the maximum number of turns an agent will remain active once released. This can be a value from 1/6 (one operational round) to 6 (6 full rounds) or it may be X (stays active until cured).
• Spread is the bonus the agent receives each turn when determining if it spreads to adjacent hexes. This value can range from -3 to +3. The difficulty to spread to a directly adjacent hex is 8, or 10 to spread to a hex that is two hexes away. In addition to the BW agent's bonus, there is a +1 bonus to spread to a hex with an RCW, +2 to spread to a hex with a NCW, and +3 to spread to a hex with HWZs in it. There is a -1 penalty to spread to hexes with only member worlds. Spread can be counteracted with the Quarantine project (described below).
• Strength is the bonus the agent receives each turn on its damaging effects. This can be a value from -3 to +3.

BW Effects
Each turn, each hex that has obtained a BW watermark must roll to determine what impact the BW agent has:

1d6
1-2: All military units in the hex (except blockading naval units that have not been exposed) roll on the interdiction table(minus positive strength bonuses, or plus negative strength penalties) and suffer damage equal to the percentage indicated. The BW agent also attacks any special forces teams in the hex per the Attack Special Forces Team operation, using its strength as a modifier on the roll.
3-4: All hex elements in the hex are forced offline for 1d6(+/- strength) turns as if they had been attacked with a CW agent. Additionally, the hex is terrorized for the next three turns (+/- the strength modifier)
5-6: Roll for biosphere destruction on a randomly-determined planet in the hex (+/- strength) as per the CW operation. The BW agent also attempts to assassinate any VIPs in the hex, applying its strength modifier to the roll.

By default, a BW agent only attacks once per turn, but certain advanced recipes may be allowed multiple attacks.

BW R&D Path

Tier 1: Basic Projects

Quarantine
Base Cost: N/A
Uses: 1 PF or special

The quarantine project adds a -3 penalty to spread rolls emanating from the target hex. If a blockade is present in the system, the PF requirement is waived.

If any unit (including special forces teams and other clandestine movers) that has been exposed to the infected biosphere leaves the hex, the project fails and the -3 penalty is lost.

Identify Agent
Base Cost: 1
Uses: 1 PF

Samples of a BW agent are taken from an infected hex your faction owns to a PF for analysis. On an 8+, the recipe for the agent is revealed. A natural 2 is a critical failure, resulting in the release of the agent in the PF's hex.

Develop Cure
Base Cost: 10 RP
Uses: 1 PF

This operation adds the "Cure" feature to an existing recipe, and makes the cure known to the faction undertaking the project (see the "Add Feature" advanced project for full details on Cure). The difficulty of this project may be increased if the BW agent has the "Mutation" feature.

2d6
2 (natural)     Critical failure - BW agent released in the hex where the project PF is located
3-8              Failure
9-10             Add Cure/2-4 to the BW agent
11-12           Add Cure/2-3 to the BW agent
13+              Add Cure/2 to the BW agent


Launch BW Program
Base Cost: 25 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Succeeds on a 12+. Success unlocks the Tier 2 BW projects. A natural 2 is a critical failure, resulting in the release of an X/0/0 agent in the PF's hex. When successful, the faction that ran the project gains one recipe, which is always X/0/0 with no rules or features.


Tier 2: Intermediate Projects

Manufacture BW Token
Base Cost: 25 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Always succeeds. This project creates one ß token keyed to a specific recipe. ß tokens are carried, stockpile, and moved using the same rules as CW # tokens.


Create New Recipe
Base Cost: 5 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Creates a new BW recipe. Difficulty is equal to...

Base: 8+
Duration other than X: +1
Spread other than 0: +1
Strength other than 0: +1
Each Rule: +1
Each Feature: +1

Critically fails on a natural 2, releasing the agent in the target hex. Recipes may only be attempted if the faction has unlocked the desire statistics, rules, and features.


Enhanced Duration
Base Cost: 5 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Succeeds on a 10+, each success unlocks the next tier on the Duration track (factions start with X)

X -> 6 -> 5 -> 4 -> 3 -> 2 -> 1 -> 3/6 -> 1/6

Critically fails on a natural 2, releasing one of the faction's recipes in the PF hex.


Enhanced Spread
Base Cost: 5 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Succeeds on a 10+, each success unlocks the next tier on the selected track (factions start with 0)

Bonus Track: 0 -> +1 -> +2 -> +3
Penalty Track: 0 -> -1 -> -2 -> -3


Enhanced Strength
Base Cost: 5 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Succeeds on a 10+, each success unlocks the next tier on the selected track (factions start with 0)

Bonus Track: 0 -> +1 -> +2 -> +3
Penalty Track: 0 -> -1 -> -2 -> -3


Tier 3: Advanced Projects
General Prerequisite: A faction cannot complete more Tier 3 projects than it has completed Tier 2 projects (excluding the 'manufacture BW token' project, which does not contribute to this limit).


Develop Rule
Base Cost: 10 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Succeeds on a 11+, each success unlocks a rule of choice. Some rules have prerequisites, noted in parenthesis. Critically fails on a natural 2, releasing a BW agent in the PF's hex.

Rules
Reroll first result of "1-2"
Reroll first result of "3-4"
Reroll first result of "5-6"
Reroll until a new result is obtained (prereq: any "Reroll first result")
Spread every other turn
Spread every three turns (prereq: "Spread every other turn")
Do not attack biosphere
Do not attack infrastructure
Do not attack VIPs (prereq: "do not attack biosphere")
Roll of "1" always indicates no effect


Develop Feature
Base Cost: 10 RP
Uses: 1 PF

Unlocks special features that may be added to recipes. Prerequisites are listed in parenthesis. Critically fails on a 2, releasing the agent in PF hex.

Cure/2-4: Developer has a 'silver bullet' cure that instantly removes the BW agent from any hex on a 5+ on 2d6
Cure/2-3 (prereq: Cure/2-4): As Cure/2-4, but succeeds on a 4+
Cure/2 (prereq: Cure/2-3): As Cure/2-4, but succeeds on a 3+
Mutation I: +1 penalty to Develop Cure projects
Mutation II (prereq: Mutation I): +2 penalty to Develop Cure projects
Mutation III (prereq: Mutation II): +3 penalty to Develop Cure projects
Long Incubation: Does not appear on map until two turns after it is deployed.
Delayed Symptoms (prereq: Long Incubation): As Long Incubation, except Spread rolls are made starting the turn the agent is deployed. When it appears, it appears in all hexes it has spread to.
Very Deadly: Receives a bonus to Assassinate and Attack Special Forces Team rolls as if it was a CW # token deployed by a special operations team.
Rapid Spread: Each infected hex rerolls its first failed spread check.
Horrific Symptoms: Regardless of roll, always terrorizes the affected hex as if a 3-4 was rolled. If a 3-4 is actually rolled, double the terror time.
Rapid Onset I: Attacks twice each turn
Rapid Onset II (prereq: Rapid Onset I): Attacks three times per turn
Rapid Onset III (prereq: Rapid Onset II): Attacks four times per turn

[Dave Baughman]

Tables

Raid Transit Table
2 Fail
3 Fail
4 Fail
5 Fail
6 Fail
7 Fail
8 Fail
9 Pass
10 Pass
11 Pass
12 Pass

Raid Defense Force Table
2 70% of Attacker
3 75% of Attacker
4 80% of Attacker
5 90% of Attacker
6 100% of Attacker
7 100% of Attacker
8 100% of Attacker
9 110% of Attacker
10 120% of Attacker
11 135% of Attacker
12 150% of Attacker


Raid Salvage Table
2 Raider claims 10% of available salvage
3 Raider claims 20%
4 Raider claims 30%
5 Raider claims 40%
6 Raider claims 50%
7 Raider claims 60%
8 Raider claims 70%
9 Raider claims 80%
10 Raider claims 90%
11 Raider claims 100%
12 Raider claims 100%



Interdiction/Guerilla Warfare

2d6 roll	Damage Percentage
2 or less	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 10%
3	0%EC	Guerilla Warfare only: Guerilla force increases in size by 5%
4	5%
5	5%
6	10%
7	15%
8	20%C
9	30%C
10	40%CD
11	60%CD
12+	80%CR

EC – Defender has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
C – Attacker has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
CD – As C, plus the defending force is disrupted and may not be issue orders for one operational round.*
CR – As C, plus the defender is routed and must use Withdrawal orders in the next operational round.*

*Additional effects do not apply if the attacker is destroyed during the course of the battle (though
critical events should still be rolled for).

Simple Resolution Table
2d6
2 Deal 10% of FP to Opponent^EC
3 Deal 15% of FP to Opponent^EC
4 Deal 20% of FP to Opponent
5 Deal 25% of FP to Opponent
6 Deal 30% of FP to Opponent
7 Deal 40% of FP to Opponent
8 Deal 50% of FP to Opponent^C
9 Deal 55% of FP to Opponent^C
10 Deal 60% of FP to Opponent^CD
11 Deal 65% of FP to Opponent^CD
12 Deal 70% of FP to Opponent^CR
13+ Deal 75% of FP to Opponent<sup>CR

EC</sup> – Defender has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
^C – Attacker has an opportunity to earn one or more critical event.
^CD – As C, plus the defending force is disrupted and may not be issue orders for one operational round.*
^CR – As C, plus the defender is routed and must use Withdrawal orders in the next operational round.*

*Additional effects do not apply if the attacker is destroyed during the course of the battle (though
critical events should still be rolled for).

Critical Event Table

2d6	Critical Event	Alternate Naval Result
2	Enemy unit disintegrates, taking double damage. If it survives, it receives a -1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
3	Enemy suffers major damage and loses one quality level.
4	Enemy force is encircled; 1d4x5% of the force is captured (see rules for surrender)	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
5	Capture a high-value prisoner – automatically win operational initiative for the next Operational Round.
6	Command & Control breakdown: enemy suffers -1 on operational initiative for the rest of the Strategic Turn.
7	Repair bay heroics double the amount of after-action battlefield repair.
8	Your commander gains experience - +1 on simple resolution and initiative rolls for the rest of the turn.
9	Enemy supply columns are overrun and looted – the enemy's damage control for this round goes to your force instead.
10	One enemy VIP of the enemy player's choice is killed (1-4) or captured (5-6). If no VIPs are present, the enemy's highest-ranking officer is affected instead. The enemy suffers a -1 penalty on all operational initiative and simple resolution rolls for the rest of the turn.
11	Lucky shots result in far more salvage than usual – double this battle’s contribution to the salvage pool.	Boarding opportunity: one ship or wing (one line-item) may initiate hostile boarding against a single enemy ship of your choice.
12	A Hero is Born – your commanding officer leads his or her forces to a decisive victory against all odds; increase damage inflicted by 30%. If you took enough damage this turn to be destroyed, 10% of your force survives. The enemy must withdraw as if they lost an Invasion scenario.

[Daemonknight]

Pirates, Raiders, and Rebels

Piracy is a constant problem in the Sphere and the Periphery. Even the Clans must deal with pirates, in their case members of the Dark Caste. Pirate bands are generally small, and utilize stolen merchant jumpships to evade detection by the House militaries. Focusing on less defended worlds, Pirates are unable to cripple a nation with their nefarious activities, but can none the less cause a disruption in trade and a minor annoyance to the local economy wherever and whenever they strike.

Pirate Raids
Pirates will periodically launch raids on the various Inner Sphere and Homeworlds powers. Pirate forces are tracked on a seperate sheet as if they were a normal faction. However, individual pirate forces are just that: individuals. Attacks on different worlds within the same nation are assumed to be the work of different, unaffiliated pirate bands unless otherwise noted.

Pirate raids will only ever use Raid-type combat orders. This limits them to executing Recon Raid, Naval Recon, Resource Raid, and Destroy Resources Raid missions. They will never invade planets or declare a Trial(considered a Battle-type order).

If a faction is percieved to be unable to defend itself, the local pirate gangs might make a more bold move. Every turn, a 2d6 roll will be made for every faction. On a roll of '12' or greater, a Major Pirate Incursion will take place. Successfully defeating a Pirate Raid will apply a -1 modifier to this number for the next 2 turns. If a Raid targets an undefended world, a +1 modifier will be applied for the next 2 turns. If a Raid is able to wipe out a planet(ground raid) or system's(aerospace raid) defenders, or force them to retreat from the hex, a +3 modifier will be applied for the next 4 turns.

Pirate Bases
Pirate bases are secret installations, usually found in the Periphery, or dead space within national borders. They tend to be built away from populated areas, to facilitate hiding them from accidental discovery. In game terms, Pirate Bases are hidden from the game Map, and cannot be discovered unless the faction knows to look in a specific hex AND runs a successful Exploration mission to uncovered the Bases whereabouts.

Finding the hex location of a base is a multi-step process. First, factions must successfully defeat a pirate raid or Incursion. Second, a successful Investigate intelligence mission will inform the faction leader if their prisoners divulged any useful navigational data. Not every raid or Incursion will lead to a Pirate base. But if one does, the Investigate mission will lead the faction to a cluster of hexes. A further Investigate mission will reveal the correct hex, which is when Exploration missions can be undertaken to reveal the base.

Once the base is revealed, the faction has 2 options; launch an immediate assault, or wait and save the location for a later time. Base defenses are randomly generated once a faction decides to launch the attack, not before, making intelligence missions to discover the strength of the defenses useless.

Pirate bases can be either space stations(usually hollowed out asteroids) or ground installations. The type will be made clear one the Exploration roll is successful. Space Station bases follow all the rules for attacking a normal space station(meaning you must use Marines to board the station). Also, because the asteroid stations are usually in medium-large asteroid fields, warships cannot 'orbitally bombard' the stations to destroy them. Likewise, ground based pirate bases are well hidden and buried to avoid a similar fate. House militaries and the Clans must dig the pirates out the old fashioned way.

Bases can only be attacked using Raid-type orders, to avoid doomstacking. This means more heavily defended bases could take more than a single turn's combat allotment. Destroying a base has serious repercussions for pirate activity in the area. After destroying a base, the faction will enjoy a piracy-free period of d6+X, where X is the number of Bases destroyed in the past 10 turns.

[Daemonknight]

Pirate Base Defense Generation Tables:

Space Station Base:
Light Aerospace Defenses - 2d6:
2: 2 Light Aerospace Wings
3 - 4: 1 Light Aerospace Wing, 1 Medium Aerospace Wing
5 - 6: 2 Light Aerospace Wings, 1 Medium Aerospace Wing
7: 2 Medium Aerospace Wings
8 - 9: 1 Light Aerospace Wing, 1 Medium Aerospace Wing, 1 Heavy Aerospace Wing
10 - 11: 2 Medium Aerospace Wings, 1 Heavy Aerospace Wing
12: 2 Medium Aerospace Wings, 2 Heavy Aerospace Wings

Heavy Aerospace Defenses - 1d6:
1-3: 3 Medium Aerospace Wings, 1 Heavy Aerospace Wings
4-5: 2 Medium Aerospace Wings, 2 Heavy Aerospace Wings
6: 5 Heavy Aerospace Wings(or 2+ light warship, corvette or frigate, ONLY after 3055)

Station Defenders - 2d6:
2: 1 Marine Infantry Company, 1 Marine Light Battlemech Lance
3 -5: 2 Marine Infantry Companies
6-8: 1 Marine Infantry Battalion
9-11: 1 Marine Infantry Battalion, 1 Marine Light Battlemech Company
12: 2 Marine Infantry Battalions, 1 Marine Light Battlemech Company
((Infantry Marines become BA Marines after 3055))


Ground Based Defenses:
Light Aerospace Defenses - 1d6:
1: 1 Light Aerospace Wing
2-3: 2 Light Aerospace Wings
4-5: 1 Light Aerospace Wing, 1 Medium Aerospace Wing
6: 2 Light Aerospace Wings, 1 Medium Aerospace Wing

Pirate Ground Forces - 2d6:
2: 1 Company Light Tanks, 1 Company Medium Tanks
3-4: 1 Company Light Tanks, 1 Company Medium Tanks, 1 Company Light Battlemechs
5-6: 2 Companies Medium Tanks, 1 Company Light Battlemechs
7: 1 Battalion Medium Tanks, 1 Company Medium Battlemechs
8-9: 1 Battalion Medium Mechs, 1 Company Heavy Mechs
10-11: 1 Company Heavy Tanks, 1 Battalion Medium Mechs, 1 Company Assault Mechs
12: 1 Battalion Heavy Tanks, 1 Battalion Medium Mechs, 1 Company Assault Mechs

[Daemonknight]

In-Game vs Out of Character

All posting falls into one of these two categories. Posts that fall into the in-game categorey constitute information known to atleast one character within the game, while OOC posts are unknown to all, and likely contain information that would be unavailible to most characters at any given time.

ALL POSTS in the Game Turns section of the boards are in-character, unless a specific entry declares otherwise. Also, the contents of all Game Turn threads becomes public knowledge at the end of the turn following it's postingso combat takes place on St Ives in Turn 1, it doesn't go public untill the END of Turn 2). There are no exceptions to this rule unless by GM ruling(such as a GM OOC tag).

Posts in the Faction RP Threads are NEVER CONSIDERED PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE. Their contents are only known to the factions DIRECTLY interacting during a given scene. If Posts #12-27 are between Cannon, Fate and Marlin on Marlin's Faction RP Board, Cannon and Fate know what happens during those posts, but not what is before or after those posts.

PMing is something of a grey area for most. It is perfectly acceptable to conduct business via PM if you wish to hide negotiations, BUT, PM communication in this game is only valid if the GM's PM account is copied on ALL communication. Any PM which is not copied to the GMs is invalid- acting on such PMs will be considered metagaming. Its okay to try and hide things from the other players, it's not okay to hide things from game staff. Likewise, any deal thats made has to be posted to the ComStar Diplomaic Archives to be considered valid. If you think a deal needs to be secretive, PM it to me and 'ComStar' will make the decision(usually agreeing for form's sake...unless theres a reason to leak it). The ComStar Diplomatic Archives, while open for viewing and techniclly an in-game repository, is not public knowledge. It is a ComStar database, so you'd need to hack in within the game to gain access.